HTMLInputElement: cancel event

The cancel event fires on an <input> element when the user cancels the file picker dialog via the Esc key or the cancel button and when the user re-selects the same files that were previously selected of type="file".

This event is not cancelable but can bubble.

Syntax

Use the event name in methods like addEventListener(), or set an event handler property.

js
addEventListener("cancel", (event) => {});

oncancel = (event) => {};

Event type

A generic Event.

Examples

Canceling an input element

HTML

html
<label for="file">Select a file. Or don't.</label>
<input type="file" id="file" name="file" />

<div id="result"></div>

JavaScript

js
const elem = document.getElementById("file");

const result = document.getElementById("result");

elem.addEventListener("cancel", () => {
  result.textContent = "Canceled.";
});

elem.addEventListener("change", () => {
  if (elem.files.length == 1) {
    result.textContent = "File Selected.";
  }
});

Result

Open the file selector, then close the selection dialog with the escape key or the cancel button. Both of these will cause the cancel event to be fired. Also, try selecting a local file on your machine; then reopen the file selection window and reselect the same file. This too causes the cancel event to be fired.

Specifications

Specification
HTML
# event-cancel
HTML
# handler-oncancel

Browser compatibility

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
cancel event

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
No support
No support

See also